1. Keep Entryways Visible

Making sure that your entryways are visible with solar-powered lighting helps to protect both guests and residents. Choosing solar-powered porch lights will help cut energy costs. These lights are easy to install without the hassle of electrical configuration.

Porch lights should have access to direct sunlight to be used most efficiently. If a porch or partial roof cover your main entryway, consider using other forms of solar lighting like hanging lanterns placed near steps and access points that can be installed in the ground or off other parts of your home.

2. Make Pathways Accessible

Steps, walkways and heavily trafficked areas of your yard often require lighting to prevent accidents. Lighting a pathway is an easy way to ensure that guests and family members can see where they are going and avoid any obstacles.

Choosing solar pathway lights is a great way to brighten the outdoor space along with adding a touch of professionalism to pathways around your home.

There are many different styles, colors and sizes available. The lights usually include a staked bottom that allows for easy installation into the ground. Small solar panels sit on top of the light fixture, soaking up the sun during the day to use at night.

3. Spotlight Featured Plants

Gardens shouldn’t be visible just during the day. Solar-powered lights feature your best blooms at night, too.

Many homeowners have beautiful gardens surrounding their homes that seem to be forgotten once night arrives.

Consider using solar-powered spotlights to feature different plants within your outdoor living spaces. These small spotlights will draw attention to the garden and can help you enjoy your plants more throughout every season.

As different plants bloom at different times of the year, the spotlights can move around the garden, depending on what is currently in bloom.

4. Guard Your Home

Floodlights are an indispensable tool when trying to guard certain areas of your home at night. They not only provide abundant light to your yard but can also deter intruders from coming near your home.

Consider choosing a solar flood light with a motion sensor that will turn on only when motion is detected. Doing so will help conserve the energy and alert you to movement outdoors well past sunset.

Solar-powered flood lights also help to discourage neighborhood pests that like to approach your yard at night.

5. Create Backyard Ambience

String lights add to your home’s ambience, particularly on the patio.

Solar-powered string lights now on the market but are becoming popular with homeowners looking to upgrade their outdoor living areas.

Commonly used along patios, porches, and outdoor dining areas, string lights add to the ambience. However, traditional string lights always need to have access to an outlet. Solar-powered string lights can be hung anywhere without the need for an electricity source.

Consider hanging solar-powered string lights around your outdoor living space as well as on individual plants or decorations within the garden to draw interest to all areas of the space.

You can choose from a wide variety of lighting that will not only add beauty to your home but will also help cut energy costs.

Olive Dawson is a gardening and landscape design writer and environmentalist. She is always searching for new ways to reduce waste and grow food organically. She is most proud of her homemade beauty products.

Backed by his 40-year remodeling career, Danny served as the home improvement expert for CBS’s The Early Show and The Weather Channel for more than a decade. His extensive hands-on experience and understanding of the industry make him the go-to source for all things having to do with the home – from advice on simple repairs, to complete remodels, to helping homeowners prepare their homes for extreme weather and seasons.